Nothing Else Matters Chapter One
by plentysaid
Summary: AU Fic. When someone you love is hurt what do you do to find solace?


The bell resonated through each of the junior's ears, the signal for the end of the day. The time of freedom from the abysmal hole they call high school. Mr. Banner, one of the few science teachers' at Forks High School was keeping the honour-roll students behind. There was a competition that he wanted the junior's to participate in and what a better way to guarantee success then letting the brightest students in Forks enter.

"Guys," Banner started, waiting for everyone to say silent. Everyone was there, apart from Edward Cullen who slammed through the door just as the science teacher opened his mouth,

"Sorry I'm late, sir, I had an appointment at the – my dad, about my... it won't happen again. Sorry." Edward strode into the classroom, his face a little flushed, and his breathing fast, he had clearly ran from the parking lot.

He found the seat next to Jasper empty, and he slid himself on the stool. Jasper had already written the note he was going to show Edward:

_Where on earth did you go? You could have text me, I thought you had forgotten._

Edward read it, and rolled his eyes, writing back in his neat scrawl:

_Sorry, but I had to get some things for later on this evening, and I couldn't exactly risk going to the local pharmacy, they'd start asking questions. Had to drive to Port Angeles and back in my free: thought I would get back in time, but clearly not._

_Oh. Okay. You had me worried for a second. Port Angeles? Serious? You could have gone to the hospital and got some from there. You know, the CONFIDENTIAL clinic?_

_And if my dad saw me? What would I have said then? _

_He does know, you know. He would have understood... and maybe would have given you the thumbs up for using protection. _

_Edward looked at Jasper with a look of mock disgust and rolled his eyes._

_Still, do you want my dad knowing that we get up to stuff like that!? I sure don't._

Jasper had to sto

_Thank you so much, I love you with all my heart. 3 XXX I want to kiss you,_

p himself from laughing; Banner was still discussing atomic structure, bonding and periodicity. Edward, being the prince he was, had been taking notes for both of them while Jasper took in the visuals, drawing diagrams of various atomic structures. The time was passing by slowly and Jasper didn't know why he was an honour roll student, or why he had signed up for AP Science. Then the boy next to him nudged his knee and he remembered: to spend more time with Edward. He looked into his eyes, and saw the flash of playfulness he was used to seeing. Edward gestured his head to the paper they had been writing on, there was a note there.

_I love you; I want to be with you forever. Tonight, grab a bag from yours; there's something I want to do. Get some warm clothes. I have already checked it with your parents. This weekend we will be together – just us. Love x x x_

Jasper smiled, his stomach doing flips, as per usual when Edward – the love of his life - made a gesture like this. He couldn't express how he felt without letting the classroom know about them. Instead, he decided to write:

Jasper squeezed Edward's hand instead, smiling grandly at him. Banner finished up the lesson, and the two of them packed up slowly, allowing everyone else out before them. Mike, however, stayed behind to talk to Jasper.

"Hey, err... Jazz, you couldn't possibly help me with some Latin could you? It's just, I'm struggling and I don't want to fail it... I wouldn't ask unless I was completely desperate," the look of desperation on his face had Jasper there and then, he felt obliged to say "yes"

"Sure. I mean, what are you struggling with?"

"Tenses and the odd pronunciation, y'know? Thank you so much for doing this! When are you free?" Mike exchanged a look with Edward, he was glaring at him; there was something in his eyes that Edward didn't trust entirely.

"Next week, after work on Wednesday I am normally free. I can help you then." Mike's face lit up, he practically jumped on Jasper, who looked so uncomfortable it was quite amusing to Edward.

"Thank you so much! I don't know how I can repay you!" Jasper patted him on the back, awkwardly.

"You can let go of me and I will forget you ever touched me." He pulled away, fast, looking distracted and searching for something.

"Sorry. So, yeah, will speak to you on Wednesday. Well, I should see you around before then, but... yeah, okay. Bye!" He headed out of the door, quickly, running quite fast. Jasper sighed, and leaned his head on Edward's shoulder briefly when Banner's head was turned.

"Come on, we better get going. Renee will eat my head if you're late home tonight." Jasper looked at Edward confused. Edward grabbed the back of his head, and moved him towards the door.

"See you later Banner!" Edward called out, pushing Jasper all the way to Edward's silver Volvo.

"What was that about?" Edward started the car, and pulled out into the queue of cars fleeing the school for the weekend.

"Just you wait and see. Your mum would like you home for dinner before you go out for the whole weekend,"

"Where are we going this weekend?"

"I'm not telling you until we get there." Jasper pouted at this, knowing it would hopefully win over Edward; he looked at the other boy, throwing his head back onto the head rest. "Don't do that to me! You know I can't resist, but I'm still not telling you!" He tried his luck at something else; he put his hand on Edward's leg, slowly moving it up. "Jasper," he tried to be stern, but he knew it didn't really come across that way. The hand moved higher, until it was nestled right next to his crotch. "Jasper. Now... here is really not the time or the place for you to have your hand there! I won't tell you. I'm sorry," Jasper had a way with Edward to get what he wanted; he placed his hand on Edward's crotch, letting his fingers lightly draw patterns, causing Edward to squirm in his seat.

The traffic was moving at a faster rate now, and they were extremely near the exit of the parking lot. Jasper cupped his partner's ever-growing trouser tent, causing Edward to buck up into Jasper's hand.

"God, stop before I crash the car! When we get to yours, I will tell you! Happy!?" Jasper stopped momentarily, his hand still hovering, Edward prayed that he would move his hand, just let him drive home. They had exited the school's lot and were now on the road towards Jasper's rustic house. It had been newly renovated due to a fire that was started by vandals – the fire department suspected it was started because the Hale's had arrested and put a stop to a gang war from the Quileute lands.

The house was grand, modern and stylistic. The front garden was always a treat to look at, with its fresh flowers and the rocky water feature in the centre of the round garden. The drive went around the front of the house to the twin garages. Edward pulled up in front of "the children's garage" as it had been called. Jasper and both his sisters kept their cars in it.

The engine stopped and Edward turned to Jasper, whose hand was sitting on the top of his thigh. Edward took the hand in his, and gently kissed each knuckle, not taking his eyes away from the gorgeous green eyes that stared back at him. Jasper started pulling his hand towards his face, grabbing Edward's lips in a soft kiss.

As he pulled away, Jasper smiled, resting his head back on the head rest, he gazed into Edward's eyes, thinking to himself things he shouldn't be. He inhaled a deep breath, "So, you gonna tell me where we are going? You did kinda promise after all,"

"I'll tell you _what _we are doing, not where we are doing it? You'll love it; trust me. When am I ever wrong about this sort of thing?" Jasper pouted at him; his eyes widening, making him look like an adorable puppy. "Camping. Us two are getting in a tent for the weekend, going hiking, watching the stars," there was a lingering on the latter comment, then he cheekily grinned and stated "skinny dipping," sticking his tongue out between his teeth. Jasper couldn't resist that look; he reached over and sucked in Edward's tongue, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

Breathlessly, Jasper pushed his forehead to Edward's, cupped his face and rubbed his nose against Edward's. "I better go in. They've seen your car, they'll start to wonder again; you know what Rosalie is like for gossip!" Edward laughed, breathily.

"Be at mine when you are done. Bring your car; we'll take that up there – if that's okay? Pack warm clothes, and..." Jasper cut him off, rolling his eyes as he started to speak.

"Do you just want to come in, pack my bag while I'm talking to my mum and dad? Grab something to eat while you are here? Alice has missed your conversations: I swear if I have to hear "Edward always brings you home but he never stays; you always go over there, why can't he come here?" I might have to shoot her," they chuckled, and Edward, negligently got out of the car with Jasper.

Turning the key in the door, Jasper shouted out for his mum and dad. He knew they would both be here: Friday meant the night shift, so they would have a family meal, discuss their days, hand out allowances (yes, the Hale's still got an allowance, Charlie – their dad – had insisted on keeping it up, and if they were sensible enough to put it away with their college funds, then that was their choice; if they decided to go out with it, that was also their choice), after that, they'd retire to the TV room for about an hour before Charlie and Renee went off to work; usually after the cruiser pulled away, the three Hale children would get up from the room, get ready and head out. Every other Friday, Edward would come over ten minutes after the cruiser had pulled away, climbing in through Jasper's bedroom window – catching him undressing: their little routine.

"Son: in here!" Charlie called out. The sound was coming from the kitchen. He looked at Edward, pulling him towards the door to the stone-y kitchen. In a whisper, Edward told Jasper he would go straight upstairs; let him have his family time. A quick peck on the cheek and he whizzed up the stairs silently, taking Jasper's rucksack with him. Jasper sighed happily, before walking into the kitchen to be greeted with the warm, inviting scent of his mother's cooking; his dad's coffee beans trying to beat out the glorious smell while he sat and read the paper, sipping a mug of scolding hot coffee.

"How was your day?" His dad asked, without looking at him. Like many things in his life, it was routine to have this on a daily basis when either one of the males got in. Looking at the paper, Charlie was flicking through the sport section.

"It was good dad; I got an A on a Spanish test... Maths, we're doing some more theorems, surely you don't want me to bore you with those. Oh, I have to go and get some new books this weekend; English is allowing me to have a look at different classic gothic horror books,"

His dad looked up at the latter, "oh? What sort of gothic horror are you thinking of doing? Congratulations on the A as well."

"Poe, maybe Stoker. I've always loved _Dracula. _Something so... interesting about the isolated: the dead walking among us, feeding on pure innocents. What it must be like to be on the outside of everything: to be cast out as a monster for needing to exist on something that is frowned upon in today's society."

"Interesting theory about Vampires there, son. You do know, however, they are fictional beings? Like werewolves, witches and unicorns?"

"Well, in fact, you are saying that, but... well, to be brutally honest; there are forms of all of the mythical creatures you have mentioned. Werewolves, are actually – supposedly, as the tale goes – humans inbred with dogs or the more plausible answer, there is a gene in the human body that controls your hair growth ultimately, thus making you able to grow hair extremely quickly and all over your body. Witches, well, there are practising wiccans everywhere; cults and cults of them, believing that their magic is doing good for themselves and others around them. As for vampires, there are actually cults that do like the idea of feeding off one another; mainly, it's a sexual desire of being bitten and drawing blood that makes them very vampiresque." Jasper finished, grinning smugly at his father.

"Show off. Renee, sure he wasn't switched at birth? Genius child among us," he smirked as he drank his coffee. Renee turned around from what she was stirring to smile at her son, winking at him.

"This weekend _is _okay? I mean, you two are okay with it all?" Renee moved away from the hob, leant on the breakfast counter, gestured for Charlie to stop reading and started to talk.

"It's fine that you two are going on this camping trip, but, please, be careful. You never know what could happen to you." Renee, even though she was a petite woman with curly brown hair, and a kind smile; she could throw out some intensive glares. "Edward cares about you a lot. He's spoken to me – to both of us about your plans, which, you haven't heard I take it?" Jasper shook his head, hoping his mother would let him in on some of the plans, "Very well. Some of the things he has planned for the pair of you could be dangerous. Look, I know I'm worrying and nagging, but I care about you and I don't want you to get hurt in _any _way."

Jasper rolled his eyes, parents were always so over-protective. "Mum, I _will_ be careful; Edward won't hurt me, he won't let anything bad happen to me – you should have learnt that by now."

His dad looked at him, with a kindness in his face; then it turned sincere and hard. "And, from the both of us: if he does anything you don't want to do... in _anyway, _then you tell me and I will have him sorted out." _Did dad just say that? _He thought to himself, _oh, that's just embarrassing. Does he know anything about our relationship?_ Sure Jasper knew that Carlisle and his parents talked about their sons – neither of whom seemed to have a problem with it – but he had never put it into his mind that they talked about their _sex-life _.

"Dad," he said in horror, "I know what to do, alright? I won't do anything I don't want. Trust me, please."

"I am. I was only saying... here." He pulled out from his jacket pocket a can of pepper spray. "Just in case."

"Taking it too far now dad!" Alice entered then, swaying; dancing to her own rhythm.

Alice and Jasper were twins, both born within minutes of each other. The doctor's have implied that both may possess "gifts", twin telepathy and such. Both worried about that because they both had their own secrets the other should never know about.

"Jazz! Hey, didn't see you after school, I mean I knew _Edward _was _dropping you off_ and that, but you could have at least said 'hey' or you know... waved out of a _window_," she smiled innocently and went to the fridge to get some orange juice. Jasper's eyes widened.

"I was going to, but... I was busy; Banner wanted us for the AP thing... but erm... a _window? _Would you still have been there?"

"Yes. I saw Edward driving in from somewhere, we had a nice _chat_. I think he said he may have your _jump_er; he sent you a text earlier in the day, but you never replied." Jasper was now just as confused as his parents. He pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket, and there was a message from Edward there, saying:

_Went out the window, hope you don't mind lol. Your bag is on your bed all packed. See you at mine in a bit. Ly xx_

He smiled into the text and laughed, "So he did. What time's dinner so I can get going?"

Renee rolled her eyes and went back to stirring the ravioli, "ten minutes, then you can go, okay?" Jasper smiled, kissed his mum on the cheek and ran up the stairs to check his e-mails and to order some books off Amazon. He didn't have that many new e-mails, except from family, but he found one from a distant friend, Peter.

_Hey man! It's been a while since I last sent you an e-mail or anything. Hope you are well. Quick update, Charlotte and I are still together. Been going strong for a while now – as you know. Any girls in your life now? Or even a guy? Lol. You still live in Forks right? Will be down in Seattle soon, just to have a mooch and to visit the Nan, so I'll phone you when I'm there. Have to meet up for old times' sake. _

_Give my love to your lot. Hope to hear from you soon mate,_

_Pete._

Jasper decided not to e-mail back just yet; he'd do it when he got back this weekend.

***

After dinner, his dad gave him his allowance, which went straight into Jasper's money pot: he was saving up unlike his sisters. Grabbing his bag, he text Edward he was on his way, and made his way to his hummer.

The drive there was peaceful; he had put on some calm music. He only ever listened to this CD when he was on his way to the Cullen's surgery – Jasper had always been scared of Doctor's, even though he could trust this one, he still didn't feel safe being checked over. That mere panic of visiting a hospital made him break out into a sweat. He drove down the twisted road, secluded under the cover of the trees; he could see the glass front of the rooms, Emmett was standing clearly in view, doing some work-outs, _typical _Jasper thought. The grand design of the house didn't seem to fit in with the rest of Fork's properties; was one of the most beautiful houses Jasper had ever seen. He loved walking up here most days; the scene under the trees was always romantic. As he pulled up and parked his car in front of the garage, he noticed Bella was sat on the porch, reading a book, bathing in the (almost gone) sunlight.

"Hey Jazz! Glad you're here, Ed's been going mental over when you'd get here! Shall I call him?" He nodded at her, she shouted up to her younger brother. He appeared within seconds at the door, scooping Jasper up into a hug and kissing him on the cheek. Bella smiled, and went back to reading her book.

"Missed you." Edward said; Jasper rolled his eyes as he pulled away from the hug.

"Suppose, I missed you too," he grinned his cheeky smile, and continued speaking. "Shall we get your bag then mister? Since you are begging to get out of here and to wherever we are going this weekend – which you still didn't tell me." Jasper pouted and followed Edward into the open-planned room.

"It's in my dad's study. Wanna come up?"

"Do I have any choice?" Edward smiled grandly, taking Jasper's hand in his and walking up the flight of stairs onto the first floor. The paintings along the wall were always breath-taking to see, the amount of intricate design that went into these pieces of art. At the end of the hallway was Carlisle's study. Edward knocked once, hearing the soft voice allow him entry, he and Jasper walked in.

"Came to get my bag, dad. Jasper's here," Carlisle looked up from his computer, pulled the rim of his glasses down to the bottom of his nose so he could see Jasper clearly.

"Ah, Jasper. It's good to see you again. How's the family?" Jasper smiled at the older, blond man.

"They are very well thank you, mum sends her love and says she'll pop over soon with some of her famous chocolate cake. How are you, Mr. Cullen?" Jasper moved closer to the desk, parting from Edward; Carlisle got up at the same time, shaking his hand firmly.

"How many times: it's Carlisle. I'm pretty well thank you."

"Sorry Carlisle. Glad to hear it. How are things at the hospital?" Jasper knew he didn't have to make small talk with Carlisle, but – as he had said to Edward many times before – he was interested in the world of medicine and the intellectual subjects Carlisle always seemed to bring up.

"Going well actually, we are renovating some of the older wards; replacing old monitors with new ones. The health system is finally recognising we need just as much funding as the rest of the states." He gave a small chuckle and went to his book shelf. "I have a couple of books I think you will be interested in. I found them when I was searching for an old classic, _Cyrano De Bergerac, _have you read it?" Jasper nodded, vaguely remembering the play about the poet, falling in love with "Roxanne", who was falling for someone else: a heart-breaking story. "Excellent. Well, I couldn't find it, but found these titles..." He was cut off by Edward coughing extremely loudly. "Oh, sorry son; maybe another time, Jasper. Have a good time the pair of you. Please don't get into any trouble. See you Sunday, son. Bye Jasper." He gave a wave to them both.

"Bye, Carlisle. Thanks, you too."

"See you Dad!" Edward dragged Jasper out of their extremely fast, flinging his arm over Jasper's shoulder, the other holding his bag. "Why do you start conversations with him? You know he never shuts up."

"I was interested! Sorry, today wasn't the right day to start chatting to him about his profession, was it?"

"Not really, but I forgive you." They walked down the stairs, seeing Emmett head into the living room, Edward gave him a wave and said goodbye.

"Behave you two! I know what you kids are like." He winked at Jasper, who blushed furiously.

As they got into Jasper's hummer, Edward gave Jasper a proper kiss. "Now, will you tell me where we are going?"

"Suppose I'm going to have to, aren't I? Well, you know how you like going camping? And you have always liked that little enclosed spot, just over from the meadow?" Jasper's eyes lit up: that was the most romantic place in Forks. "Well... we aren't going there. I'm taking you out of Forks; just outside there is a lovely spot that's perfect for camping: no one will disturb us. It's beautiful... however, I know someone more beautiful." Jasper blushed more so than he had done before, and reached over to kiss Edward softly on the lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Edward started the engine, "Now... let's get going. We've got lots to fit into this weekend." Jasper smiled, squeezed Edward's hand, as they drove away from the Cullen's house and the town of Fork's to start an unforgettable romantic weekend...


End file.
